Time After Time
by Baby You're My Immortal
Summary: When Lyra and her little brother, Cole happen to stumble upon a group of survivors they find themselves having to adapt to their rules and when a certain hatred for a redneck keeps getting in the way things can get...complicated. Daryl/OC **COMPLETE**
1. Chapter 1

**Time After Time**

_**This is the first walking dead Fanfiction I have ever written, so please excuse me if it's not that good. This will be set during the first season at the quarry because I have only seen season one and half of two. Hopefully, it won't take long for me to catch up. I started writing this for my sheer love of Daryl! Anyways, I've blabbered a bit now. I hope you enjoy and please leave a review!**_

_Chapter One_

_Lyra_

It's been three months since the world turned to shit…three months since I last saw another human being apart from my little brother, Cole. Every single day we've been living day by day, hoping that we will live to see another sunrise, hoping that we'll live long enough to find more survivors. It had been so long since we started walking. We'd walked in circles for weeks and we still hadn't found another being of vitality. I was beginning to think there were just us.

"Cheer up" I heard Cole say as he hitched his rucksack higher on his back. For a sixteen year old boy he was pretty insightful. Ever since the world got fucked up, he had changed. He was more sensitive and he could actually respond to a woman crying.

"I am cheerful" I lied, wiping my sweaty hair away from my face. I guess when the only thing you're concerned about is survival, you forget about personal hygiene. "Forgive me for having other things on my mind besides entertaining you" And that's how it's been for the past three months. Every time Cole tries to say or do something nice for me, I shoot him down and belittle him. I know it's wrong, but I just can't seem to bite my tongue long enough.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to treat the one person you have left in this bullshit world with a little bit of respect" He snapped. I said he was sensitive now. I gave a deep sigh before slinging an arm over his shoulder.

"I know, Cole" I mumbled. I wasn't exactly the best person with apologies or heart felt conversations. I was blunt. I liked to stick to the point and the situation in hand. "I shouldn't say those things about you. Man, you're only sixteen…you shouldn't have to deal with these things."

"Well, it's not like we're in a situation to be claiming what's right and what's wrong" He pointed out as he grinned at me. "Let's face it, it doesn't matter how much we complain…we're not getting out of this one. Might as well deal with it."

It was at moments like this where I wondered how he had managed to get that mature and that wise in such a short space of time. He was better at this whole surviving thing than I was. He was in the right mind set. He could deal with this. He was strong enough to make the hard decisions. At only sixteen, he had seen so much death and so much sadness. You can't come out of that without it having some sort of effect on you. There's just no possible way.

"Come on, we should take a break" I sighed as I stopped him from walking and took a seat in a clearing of the woods that we were stumbling around. Cole dropped his rucksack from his back and then emptied the contents before us. We were running out of essentials. Food was plummeting and we barely had any water left. If we were ever going to find other survivors, the time would be now.

"Do you think we're actually going to find any others?" Cole asked as he peered through the trees. "Do you even think there are any others?" I wanted so badly to answer all of his questions with a 'hell yes,' but I couldn't bring myself to lie to him. I didn't want him living a life where he's constantly fearing for his life and he's got to deal with false hope.

"I don't know, Cole" I whispered. "I really don't…but I really hope there are." I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wasn't about to make Cole endure another crying issue. He'd dealt with enough of those over the past few weeks. How was he so much stronger than me? I wanted to be there for him, but I was simply too weak.

"Hey, it will happen" He assured as he wrapped an arm around me. "As long as we try hard enough. Come on, have something to eat." Reluctantly, I took the piece of bread he offered me and nibbled at the corners.

For a moment, there was just silence. No one moved, no one breathed. Silence. That was until something firm and violent grabbed at my hair and yanked my upwards. The searing pain that shot through my skull was indescribable. It felt like someone had pulled all of my hair out by the roots. At least I knew that it wasn't a walker. A walker couldn't be that strong…couldn't be that stealthy.

An arm wrapped its way around my neck and held me tightly in place. I could barely focus properly, but I was aware that Cole was in the same position as me. His attacker was a human…a survivor. After three months, we had finally found survivors and they were practically strangling us.

Kicking and screaming didn't help. My attacker's grip just got tighter. I knew that Cole's captivator was trying to reason with us, but I couldn't listen. I was too far gone in panic mode. Nothing that anybody said would change this.

"She ain't gonna stop strugglin'" The guy behind me grunted as I kicked more and more.

"Well, you're just gonna have to try" The other shouted.

"I'm just gonna have to knock this summbitch out" He called. WHAT!? There is no way anyone is going to knock me out. I felt his hand slip around from my waist and up to my mouth and nose. He covered both parts of my body and gripped tightly. I began to panic more and thrashed about like a madwoman.

It didn't take long for my vision to blur and for my body to grow limp before I slumped into the man's arms.

_Daryl_

I carried the girl over my shoulder all the way back to camp. And no, I did not feel bad for what I did to that bastard. She shouldn't have been going on the way she was. If she'd just come forward quietly, I wouldn't have had to knock her out.

When we made it back to camp, I got a bit of grief from the other guys for doing that to a 'lady,' but it was nothing that I couldn't handle.

"Why the hell did you do that to her?" Lori all but screamed at me. Man, I couldn't handle that bitch either. She was always way too hormonal. "These are the first new survivors that we have seen in weeks! And you knocked her out because she was clawing at you. Are you that much of a pussy!?"

"No! I am not a pussy!" I shouted back. Yeah, I might get a little sensitive or whatever when people talk to me like that, but I can't help it. "She was screaming! I didn't want to attract every walker for miles. No, as per usual, you wouldn't think about that"

I'm not usually a dick. Well, that's debatable, but you get my drift. I can be a bit awkward, but I'm not a dick. I can be a pretty nice person if you catch me on a good day. There's just something about Lori that pisses me off so much.

"Hey, I think she's waking up" I heard Glenn say. Even though I claimed that I didn't feel bad, I still wanted to make sure that she was okay. After all, it was me who had knocked her out.

_Lyra_

My vision was still hazy, but at least I was waking up. I couldn't tell where I was, who was around me or what was happening.

"Where am I?" I asked whoever it was who was leaning over me.

"It doesn't matter where you are" A soft voice soothed. "How are you feeling?" She had brown curly hair that spilled over her shoulders and a kind face, but I knew I couldn't trust her. In this situation, who could you trust? It was at that moment that I remembered Cole. Was he hurt?

"Where's Cole?" I asked, trying to sit up, but my head had other plans. "Is he okay?" The woman pushed me back down onto the ground and smiled warmly.

"Hey, you need to relax" She soothed. "He's just fine. He didn't create as much a fuss as you did. He didn't need to be knocked out." I didn't want to hear about the commotion I made. I wanted to see my brother.

"Who knocked me out?" I asked as I fought against her to stand up. "Which one of you sick fucks thought it was okay to leave me without a breath!?" I was infuriated. Someone had practically choked me in order to keep me quiet.

"It was me" A guy sighed. His hair was covered in sweat and water. He was the scruffiest out of the lot, but hey, who really cared at the moment. I wanted to launch myself at him and punch him into oblivion, but I knew that my head wouldn't be able to stand it.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" I shouted.

"Lyra, calm down" Cole sighed as he came up behind me. "The important thing is that we've found survivors and we're safe. Just forget about what he did." That was the first unwise thing that my brother had ever said since the world turned to shit. How did he expect me to forget the fact that some guy knocked me out? Things like that didn't just get forgotten about.

"You should listen to your brother" The man laughed. "He talks some sense. Probably the first one around here who ever has, man. He ain't no fool."

"Oh, shut up, Daryl." The sheriff snapped. He seemed to be the leader of the group. He stepped forward and took my hand in his own.

"I'm Rick" He introduced. "I'm so sorry about the way that you had to meet us. Daryl is a little silly under pressure.

"I am not" He defended.

"Anyways, I'd like to welcome you to our little group." He smiled. Looking back on it, I can tell that he was trying to be nice and make me feel included in this but, at the time, I just threw it all back in his face.

"What makes you think I want a welcome from you guys?" I questioned. "After what you guys did to me and my brother, you can just go fuck yourselves. I don't want to be a part of your stupid little group." I couldn't help storming off. I was just so angry at them all. How did they possibly think that it was okay for them to do something like that?

That was where it all started. That was where my survivor family started and that was where my hatred for Daryl Dixon started. One month on, I still have that same hatred.

_**Well, I know it was a short first chapter, but it was kind of like an introductory to the story. So, did you like it? Hate it? Any opinions? Please review, so I know if I should continue on with a second chapter or not. Thanks!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Time After Time**

_**Thank you to anyone who put this story on alert or on their favourites and who reviewed! Hope you all enjoy this chapter and keep the reviews coming! The first chapter was kind of an introduction to this story, so this chapter will be set a month after the previous one.**_

_Chapter Two_

_Lyra_

A month on and the world was still shit…if not worse. The only good difference was that I got on with the people in our group now. Well, everyone except for Daryl Dixon. I still wasn't sure if he even counted as a person, to be honest. He never spoke to anyone except for when he was screaming at them or going to attack them. Cole had been on the wrong side of his temper enough times. It often ended with me screaming the place down and getting shouted at right back or getting called a bitch by Daryl, but nobody was allowed to hurt my little brother.

Every time I argued with that man, Cole bitched me out for it. He always went on about how Daryl was only trying to do right back the group. This was only because Cole was in awe of him. He wanted to be just like him. He wanted to sound badass, he wanted a crossbar and, most importantly, he wanted to kill a walker.

I, on the other hand, was not too happy about this idea. I didn't want him anywhere near one of those things. Even if there was a zombie apocalypse going on around us and my little brother was going to inevitably have to face death, I still didn't want him killing walkers just yet…much less want to.

"Lyra, even Carl is getting ready to face up to it" Shane sighed. I had heard this speech a million times whenever one of the boys tried to give Cole a gun. That was not something that I ever wanted to see in his hands.

"That's Carl you're talking about" I snapped. "He's not Cole. I do not want him to have to kill a walker."

"Lyra, you're not my mom" Cole hissed. He always had an attitude problem…and was always convinced that I was an embarrassment to him. "If I want to do this then I will." I certainly didn't appreciate him talking back to me.

"You're sixteen, Cole" I reminded. "You just don't understand. What I say goes." If you told me a few years ago that I was going to act like this, I would have laughed right in your face. I had always been the irresponsible one when we were younger. I had been the one that always went out a got drunk and tried cigarettes and drugs. Here I am, a few years later, telling my brother that he wasn't allowed to shoot a gun if a walker was coming at him. What the hell was happening to me? I guess it was safe to say, at that moment, that I was losing my touch.

"Lyra, I don't want to tell you how to treat Cole" Dale began. As soon as I heard his voice, my ears pricked up. He was one of the only ones in this group that I was willing to listen to. He was the only reasonable one. As soon as this infestation with the walkers started, everyone seemed to lose their minds…everyone except Dale. "He doesn't have to go out and hunt these walkers. None of us should be doing that. It's too risky. Don't you think that he should be given a gun…for defence? What if a walker somehow gets into camp? It could mean the difference between life and death for Cole."

"I don't say this very often, but Dale does make a pretty good point" Shane agreed. It was the first time, since I met him that I had ever heard him agree with anyone. Stunned, I waged on and on in my head. Should I really just let him have a gun? Is that only a wise choice?

At that moment, I knew that if a walker was hurrying at him and he didn't have a gun…I would never forgive myself. I simply couldn't. It would be my fault if he died under that basis.

"Shane is going to teach you how to shoot" I sighed, snatching the gun out of Shane's hands. "If I hear that you've been messing on with this, I will be so disappointed in you and you can forget about ever getting your hands on one again. Understood?"

"Understood" He promised as he held his hand out for the pistol with a grin on his face. Reluctantly, I handed him the gun and looked straight into his eyes. I was desperately trying to figure out if he was serious about this. I had to know if he was going to use this gun for good reason or if he was going to go insane with it. Knowing him, he wouldn't take this as seriously as he probably should. "Lyra, I promise."

I nodded with a small smile. Surely I should at least try and act as though it was normal to just hand him a gun and tell him to shoot whatever attacks him. Damn Shane for putting me in this situation.

"Go help Dale with dinner" I sighed. "No playing with the gun." I'd probably be saying that to him at the end of every job I gave him to do. He nodded, but I could see him rolling his eyes at me. Great. He did think this was just a joke. "I'm serious" I added.

"I won't play with the gun, Sis" He sighed. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was growing annoyed and impatient at my constant accusations and orders. Well, if it meant that it would keep him alive in this godforsaken world for just a little longer, I was all for it.

As soon as he was out of the way with Dale, I was ambushed by both Shane and Daryl. Oh, this was so not going to be good. They both looked incredibly mad at me and both were glaring hard. It also didn't take a genius to figure out that both of these men standing right in front of me hated the living hell out of me. That was the one thing that those two could agree on.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Daryl snapped. As much as he hated me, he rarely shouted when he was angry. He'd always speak in that inaudible tone and mumble horrible things, but he rarely shouted…unless something really angered him. So far, this was the first time I had properly been on the receiving end of this kind of his wrath.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned as I fixed him with a hard glare of my own, but something told me that there was no way it could match the one that he was giving me at that very moment. His almost made me tempted to wince and shy away from it.

"Oh no, you know fine well what he means" Shane pointed out. "Why are you completely discouraging weapons? Why are you treating Cole like he's five years old? He's sixteen, woman! He can make his own decisions."

"Hey, you don't know what it's like to see your little brother go through this" I hissed. It probably wasn't needed, but when I was around people like Daryl, I would say virtually anything to get one over on him.

"Stop playing the victim every time" Daryl muttered. "He's growin' up and you can't handle that. He ain't gonna be a child forever, you know?"

"I know that, Daryl" I snapped under my breath. "But I am going to protect him for as long as I possibly can. There's no problem right now. He's got his stupid gun, okay?" I could tell that they still weren't happy with my apparent wrongdoing but, at that moment, I couldn't have cared less if I tried. The world was going to shit and I was supposed to care about what a dick like Daryl Dixon thought of me!? I think not!

Even though they had so much more shit to say to me, they both let the matter drop. I could tell that there was a war going on inside Daryl's head. He did not went to let the matter go…he wanted to scream and shout at me until he turned red in the face. It was a real struggle for him to walk away. Luckily, he had more sense in his head than I thought and he managed it without muttering any insults at me as he retreated.

That's just how it was around here now. Ever since we were under attack by the walkers, the atmosphere was constantly tense. It wasn't often that a nice word was said around here. To be fair, most of us were sitting around in wait of our untimely deaths. When you have that factor hanging over your head constantly, you tend to stop thinking about being nice to people.

When you're thinking about how long it will take for a walker to rip you apart, you don't think about the consequences. You get touchy. Everything about the world annoys you. No one can blame Daryl for feeling like that.

Woah. That was probably the first time I had ever thought about something in Daryl's defence. I guess a zombie apocalypse really does change you.

_Daryl_

Man, I just wanted to teach that lady a lesson. She tries to justify the fact that she wants her little brother to be defenceless against walkers. She ain't no good big sister. She ain't looking out for him. Stupid bitch.

I still managed to bite my tongue around her. My momma always taught me to look after a lady no matter how annoying she can be. My daddy, on the other hand, well he thought women were just 'a piece of ass.' The only think they were good for was to cook, clean and make babies. Done. Simple.

Man, a world like that sometimes sounded pretty darn good to me, but there was no way in hell that my momma was going to let that shit go down. That woman was tough.

I guess Lyra's tough in her own way. She's feisty. She's probably the only woman to ever pick a fight with me. That still doesn't excuse her from being an irritating summbitch, though.

She was pretty too. She wasn't like a doll. I couldn't stand those girls, but she didn't let herself look like a tramp. Under these conditions, no one was expected to look good, but she managed it. Her annoyance killed everything good about her, though.

Man, I don't know how she did it, but she managed to get under my skin like a bad itch. She'd work her way into my grooves and she'd push every single button she could until I felt I was going to explode. I knew I had a short temper, but this was something else.

Sometimes I'm glad she's here and part of our camp. She provides me with some kind of entertainment. Some of the arguments and bickering that we have can be kinda fun. She can actually be kind of interesting when she's not shouting her mouth off about everybody else's business.

On the other hand, she can make me want to tear her head off. She makes me so annoyed that I can't even think straight. When she's acting like this? Those are the times that I wished I had never met that summbitch.

**So a little bit of insight on Daryl's feelings! Hope you all enjoy this chapter and please leave me a review. Any constructive criticism is welcome and any ideas that you may have for the story you can send me them in a private message. Hope you liked it XD**


	3. Chapter 3

Time After Time

_**Thank you so much to anyone who reviewed on the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please keep the feedback coming. This story will follow a lot of what happens in the television series, however Rick has been there from the start, meaning that when some of the survivors return from the city, Rick will be there, but it won't be the first time Lori has seen him. Oh, I also put a lyric for all of my chapters for other stories, so I guess I'll start doing that for this story too.**_

_**Lyrics: They don't know about the things we do. They don't know about the I love you's, but I bet you if they only knew, they would just be jealous of us. **_

_Chapter Three_

_Lyra_

The tent that had become my home since I found the group was unusually stuffy and hot when I woke up. My body was coated in slick sweat, my hair sticking to all parts of my head. My clothes were wrapped around my body and the sleeping bag was suffocating me.

This was by far my worst morning at camp. It had never been this hot here before and I wasn't the kind of girl that was able to take the heat in the first place. Man, something told me that today was going to be torture.

I carefully pulled my sticking sleeping bag from my skin that was beginning to cool down ever so slightly before I ventured outside. The camp was still dormant, indicating that it was probably still early. The sun was just beginning to rise and the air still had that damp feeling. It was still boiling hot outside, but it was cooler than in the synthetic tent.

"What are you doing?" A hard voice asked me. My body lurched forward as I grabbed for anything to defend myself. When I turned to face who it was, my face fell. Daryl Dixon.

"Don't do that" I scolded as I threw my 'weapon' down on the ground. "You scared the shit outta me" The usual snarky comment that would normally be snapped at me when I did something stupid like that wasn't there today.

"You know, you should know how to fight a walker" Daryl stated, his face giving away none of his emotions…just like normal. There were times where I was convinced that he didn't even experience emotions. "Picking up a twig and trying to fight with it isn't going to be very effective" My cheeks flushed at the memory of my pathetic attempt at trying to fight someone off. Sometimes I wondered how I actually managed to survive this long.

Yeah, I had a gun…that doesn't mean I have the faintest clue how to use it. I had never had a reason to shoot a gun before. My parents lived in a good part of town, so I hadn't needed one as any sort of defence. I wasn't in a job where I needed to have a gun. The only reason I even owned one was because I was one of the most paranoid people in the entire world.

"I don't have a clue how to fight" I admitted as I looked at the ground with a look of shame marring my face. At that moment, I wondered how I hadn't gotten my brother killed.

"You don't know how to shoot?" Daryl questioned as though he couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. "How did you survive that long with Cole to look after?"

"I don't know, Daryl" I snapped. "All I know is that I managed it. You don't have to make me feel like shit for not knowing how to fucking shoot, okay?"

"Okay, man" He muttered. "You should ask Shane or Rick to teach you. I'd do it myself, but I'm better with a crossbow." It had been the first civil conversation we had ever had. It was then that I started thinking that he may not be that bad after all. He could just be a little misunderstood. Hell, who isn't misunderstood these days?

"I will at some point today" I promised before taking a seat in the main camp. It couldn't be that long before people started waking up and things became less awkward between Daryl and I.

"Are you doing any washing today?" He asked after what seemed like hours of silence. That was how it worked around here. The girls of the camp did that washing and the cooking. The men, on the other hand, got to hunt and look after camp. It often felt like we were slaves to the guys. That had not been how I was brought up. I was raised, not dragged.

"No, why?" I asked. I was surprised that Daryl even knew what the word 'washing' meant. He had always been the dirtiest in camp…always covered in mud or blood.

"I've got a few dirty shirts that seriously need to be washed" He explained. "Do you reckon you'd do it because I could get you straight on your ass if you refused?" My jaw dropped as I let out a small laugh. For someone who claimed he treated women right, he had a weird way of charming them.

"Fine, but only because you asked so nicely" I scoffed. Another silence took over, but it wasn't as awkward as the last one. Now that we seemed to be on talking and joking terms, it felt as though we were actually becoming friends.

A ripping sound caused us to jump to our feet. Rick and Lori emerged from the tent area. Oh, it was only the sound of a tent opening. I guess this is going to be my life for as long as I'm still breathing. Jumping at the slightest of sounds…feeling like I need to constantly be on the defensive.

"Good morning" Rick nodded politely as he took a seat on one of the camping chairs.

"Wow, how long have you been up together?" Lori asked. "I'm surprised you haven't ripped off each other's heads yet." As annoyingly protective of Carl as she may be, you can't help but love Lori. She like the older version of me. Everyone else simply thinks that she's getting off easily by spending most of her time looking after Carl, but I get that. After all, I spend most of my time making sure that Cole is okay.

"Not long" I lied as I fixed her with a grin. She understands my complicated relationship with Daryl. Hell, everyone knows that Daryl is good-looking…they just don't have to deal with the hatred too. "Lori, are you coming down to the lake to do some washing?"

"Sure, we'll probably have enough time to do the washing before breakfast" She answered as Daryl passed me his dirty clothes.

"Thanks for this" He mumbled to me, giving me one of his rare smiles that could barely even be called a smile.

_Daryl_

As strange and alien as this sounded to me, I found myself worrying about Lyra. She had no clue how to defend herself and there were walkers crawling the Earth. She'd be dead in a minute if she went out on her own again. She couldn't just be left defenceless. As much as I hate her and her stupid, bubbly personality, I don't want to see her dead.

"How's the arguing with Lyra going?" Rick asked. He had lectured me more than once about how I need to start getting along with the rest of the group. Lyra was my worst enemy here without a doubt. Rick wanted me to try with her…he believed it would cheer everyone else up.

"None of your fucking business" I snapped, leaning back on one of the trees. For once, I was glad when everyone else started waking up. It meant that Rick wouldn't be able to ask me about Lyra. Hell, even I don't know what to make of her anymore. I hate her, but I don't want her to get hurt. How the hell does that even work?

Shane approached me when I was alone…hanging around like a bad smell just like usual. He flashed me an awkward smile before sitting down next to me.

"There's a group of us going into the city. We need more supplies and we think that there's a strong chance of finding more survivors" Shane began to explain. Oh, I was tired of hearing him speak already.

"So?" I questioned as I glared at the ground. Was it so hard to get a moment of time to think around here? "What does that have to do with me?"

"Merle's going" He answered, before falling silent once more. Oh. Now I understood why it had something to do with me. Although my brother had been in and out of prison more times that anyone could count, he had practically been my father. I couldn't just let him go off into the city when no one has any real clue what's out there.

"Well, I'm going too" I stated as though it really was just as simple as that.

"No, you can't" Shane retorted. I didn't like people telling me what to do in any normal situation, but when they're telling me that I can't go into the city to make sure that my brother is protected, it pisses me off. A lot.

"And what makes you think that you can decide who gets to go?" I asked. "You don't have any control over what I say or do."

"You're right there" He agreed. "Just think about what will happen if you go. All the girls think that they're safe here. What are we going to do if we're overrun by walkers? They can't defend themselves. We need you here to keep the base protected. You're one of our best guys. Lyra sure as hell can't protect herself and Cole."

Lyra. For some reason, I could risk her life. I was more emotionally attached to her than anyone else here except for my brother. I had known her before all of this started. Well, I hardly knew her. She wouldn't be able to remember. Why would she have any reason to? No one ever remembered the teenage scruff that I was. Oh, but I remembered her all too well.

"Fine, I won't go"

_Lyra_

As weird as it may sound, it's quite fun doing the washing here. It's a chance to have a chat with whoever else is doing the washing and it's rather peaceful. Sometimes a little bit of girl time is all a woman really needs to make her feel a hell of a lot better.

"Oh, here comes trouble" Lori laughed as she nodded towards the clearing where Daryl was emerging from. He had a face like thunder, but I didn't even realise. I simply thought that we were still acting like friends like we were this morning.

"Hey, your shirts are almost done" I called as he approached. "Man, how did you ever get a girlfriend with your personal hygiene?"

"Fuck it, Lyra" He snapped. "Just clean the goddamn clothes and keep your mouth shut for once." With that said, he stormed away as though everything was under control. What the hell was with him.

"What did I do?" I questioned as I looked to Lori for some answers. She didn't look as stunned as I thought she would.

"A group are going into the city. Merle's going, but Daryl's not" She answered. Oh, that explained it. Even though he probably doesn't remember, I vaguely knew he was when we were teenagers. Everyone knew that Merle and Daryl were incredibly close. Being separated from Merle would be essentially killing Daryl. He was going to be a nightmare when they were in the city. "Rick's going too" Oh, man.

**So sorry for taking so long to update. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please keep the feedback coming. Thanks for reading! XD**


	4. Chapter 4

Time After Time

_**Thank you very much to anyone who reviewed on the last chapter. It really means a lot to me and makes me want to update more! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please keep the feedback coming! Oh, and I apologise for making everyone have to wait so much for an update!**_

_**Lyrics: Under the lights tonight. You turned around and you stole my heart with just one look. When I saw your face, I fell in love. It took one minute, girl. To steal my heart tonight.**_

_Chapter Five_

_Lyra_

Things were straight back to being awkward between Daryl and myself. I really had believed that we were beginning to become friends once more, but it seemed that he had absolutely no intention of that ever happening. All he wanted was to hurt people's feelings.

On the other hand, I could see where he was coming from. He had probably only snapped at me because he had found out that Merle was going to be going to the city without him. Everyone in this camp knew how close the two brothers were and how hard it was going to be for Daryl to be without Merle…to risk Merle's life.

Since he snapped at me about his clothes, I hadn't spoken to him. It was partly because I knew that he just needed some space and then he would probable calm down enough to talk to me properly again, but it was also because I was scared of what I was beginning to feel. In all the time I had known Daryl, I had never once felt sorry for him or even cared about how he was feeling, but not I was contemplating all the things I should say to him to make him feel better about merle going away. Oh god. What on Earth was happening to me?

The next morning after we found out that a small group was going into the city, we gathered around the main part of the camp. Today was the day that they were going to leave and I found myself growing sad. As annoying as Merle may be, I was going to miss having him around. The two Dixon brothers can be real swell when they're not acting like the biggest dicks in the entire world.

"Now you better be good to Lyra" I heard Merle say to Daryl as they sat apart from the group. Daryl was sitting on the hood of one of the cars with a face like a slapped backside. Whatever Merle was saying was seriously pissing him off. "None of all of this bullshit about how much you hate her, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever" He grumbled, turning his face away, but Merle simply caught him by the chin and forced him to stare straight into his eyes.

"No, you listen here" He snapped. "Everyone's had it up to here about how much you hate her. I know you take high school personally, but you can't let that bother you anymore."

"I get it, Merle" He sighed before his eyes fell on me. Oh god, he was probably going to hate me even more now. To be fair, if I was trying to say goodbye to my brother who might be killed and my worst enemy was watching and listening to me, I would be furious too.

Merle stopped his rant to see what Daryl was looking at. When his eyes found me, he let go of Daryl and mumbled something incoherent to him before strutting over to me.

"I'll see ya later, babe" He said before slapping me on the ass hard. I lurched forward, but said nothing as he sauntered away. Daryl didn't acknowledge me like I thought he would. He simply walked straight past me, steering completely clear of me. Well, at least he wasn't screaming at me like I had expected him to.

"Now you better promise me that you're going to be careful when you're there" A stern voice commanded. When I turned to see who it was, my eyes fell on Lori who had Rick wrapped tightly in her arms. "I want you back here quickly and I want you all back in one piece." He was smiling at his son, but he simply stared back up at him.

"Come on, Carl" He sighed. "Please don't be like this" Carl was only young. He probably didn't fully understand why his dad had to leave for a little while.

"I don't want you to go, Dad" He whispered before barrelling into him in a hug. It was moments like this that I began realising how much I missed the rest of my family.

"I don't want to go either, Carl" Rick sighed as he pressed a soft kiss to Carl's head. "It needs to be done, though. Now, do you promise me that you're going to look after your Mom for me? She's going to need a man like you around."

"I promise" Carl said valiantly as Lori just grinned at him. The moment between the family made tears spring to my eyes. I wanted to feel something like that.

As if on cue, an arm was slung over my shoulder and Cole smiled at me. "You okay, sis?" Since when did he grow up? It felt like only yesterday he was arguing with me over who got shotgun.

"I'm fine, Cole" I sighed as I let my head rest on his shoulder. "I just wish this didn't have to happen. As I reflected back on my time with the group, I realised that it hadn't all been as bad as I had believed it had.

It may have started out with me being pissed at the way that they got us to join them, but it had all went uphill from there. Cole had made friends with Amy and it was clear to pretty much everyone in the camp that he liked her a lot more than just friends. I had become good friends with Lori and Daryl was going to start teaching me how to fight walkers. Life doesn't really get much better than that, right? Well, I guess it could.

_Daryl_

My anger was growing too much for me to even comprehend. Why the hell was Merle going on this stupid fucking death wish trip? Why couldn't he just lay off being the big man for once in his whole fucking life? You'd think he'd learn to just lay low for a while after all of his stints in prison, but no. He needs to go off and do something equally as dangerous.

Something told me that I was going to be without a brother after this trip. Let's face it. Merle isn't exactly the smartest person in the world. He doesn't have any sense. If there was a bunch of walkers surrounding him and a road to safety, he would choose to fight the walkers rather than take the road to safety. He just has too much pride to allow himself to stay out of this one. And I hated him for it.

"Hey, you okay?" Carol asked as I returned to my spot on the hood of the car to watch as the cars drove away to head for the city. "I know it must be hard for you to see Merle leave." Her words made my jaw clench in anger. Hell, everything about me seemed to be related to anger lately.

"I'm fine" I muttered, refusing to make eye contact with her. Yes, sometimes I was incredibly childish, but I really didn't give a shit about that right now. I had much bigger problem to deal with.

"You're not" She stated as she attempted to wrap her arm around me. "I know you're not" as soon as her arm made contact with me, I lurched from the hood of the car and away from her. I hated people touching me. More than I hated the fact that Merle had to leave. Carol had just overstepped a boundary.

"You don't know jack" I hissed before storming off, leaving her sitting by the car with a look of sheer surprise and hurt on her face. As I stormed away from the group, I attempted to ignore their stares of disappointment. Nobody shouts at Carol. You just don't do it. She's the sweetest one here. Fuck it, there should be a law against shouting at that woman.

_Lyra_

Everything turned silent as soon as Daryl was gone. The stunned look on everyone's faces was mutual. What the hell had just happened? Even Carol had nothing to say and she had always been the one to make everyone feel better after an awkward situation. Without a doubt, she would be the one to make sure that everyone started getting along with each other once again.

Perhaps it was because she was the victim of Daryl's anger that she didn't have anything to say…well, couldn't have anything to say. She had probably been the person that Daryl was closest to…maybe that wasn't the way things were now. Maybe he didn't need anyone anymore.

Hell, did anyone actually know what was up with Daryl half the time? I'm guessing no. One minute you could be having fun with him and he could make you forget about all of the shit that was going on in the world and then the next, he was making you want to cry your eyes out because of all the hurtful things he could hurl your way.

"Are you okay, Carol?" I asked, finally breaking the silence. She took a moment to register the fact that anyone had actually spoken, and when she did she just stared at me as though I had gone crazy before her face softened and she morphed back into the Carol that we all knew and loved. Of course she wasn't truly alright. After all, Daryl had just embarrassed and humiliated her in front of the entire group…but we all knew that she was just going to make out as though it was no big deal in order to make the rest of the group believe that everything was normal.

"Yeah, I'm fine" She laughed as she moved away from the car and busied herself with collecting washing. "We all know that Daryl can get a little angsty sometimes. He'll be back to normal in a couple of days" With that said, she grabbed the rest of the washing and hurried down the hill bank that led to the lake.

"So…what does everyone want for dinner tonight?" Lori asked, clutching at straws to try and prevent the silence that was soon to follow.

Surprisingly, it worked.

_Daryl_

The tent was ridiculously warm, but I would take this warmth anytime rather than face the group right now. Hell, not after what I did to Carol. Something told me that if I went out there, they would tear at me like a pack of vultures.

"Why do you always fuck things up, Daryl?" I whispered to himself. It was the same words that my dad had said to me all of my life as I grew up. Hell, my dad didn't just say them. He screamed them at the top of his lungs.

Jesus, maybe I was turning into him. If that's the case then I should probably stay away from Carol. After all, I wouldn't want to end up abusing her like my dad did to my Mom. For fucks sake, what was the fucking zombie invasion doing to me.

**Yep, I'm aware that this chapter was shit, but I've kept you guys waiting for so long that I decided to upload it anyway. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please leave a review, thanks XD**


	5. Chapter 5

Time After Time

_**You all have permission to kill me for going on temporary hiatus! Well, at least I'm finally back. On that note, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**_

_**Lyrics: She reads a book from across the street. Waiting for someone that she'll never meet**_

_Chapter Five_

_Lyra_

The camp had never really recovered properly after everything that happened between Daryl and Carol. It wasn't like we didn't want it to. Carol kept telling us to forget what happened between her and Daryl and we all promised that we would, but Daryl was making that extra hard. All he was doing was walking around with a scowl on his face that could quite easily terrify us all into oblivion.

He shot glares at Carol at any possible chance that he could get and was continuously keeping the argument going even though he never actually said anything to anyone. God, he was acting weird. Maybe it was just because he was worried about Merle going back to the city. Even if this was true, it didn't give him the right to act like this with Carol.

"Someone needs to talk to him" Lori sighed as we sat at the creek to do the washing. Her face looked withered and she simply didn't have the strength to do the day-to-day chores that we had to do all day. It seems that the worry for Rick was really taking its toll on her. As soon as I noticed this, I ordered her to sit down and let us do the work. "He needs to be told that he's bringing the whole group down."

"Lori, it'll never work" I reminded as I scrubbed roughly at one of Daryl's shirts. "Daryl is Daryl. It doesn't matter how many times we tell him that he needs to buck up his ideas. He never will because he simply doesn't care." I hadn't noticed me voice raising until I threw down the scrubbing brush I was using.

How was it possible for one man to get on my nerves so much? Would it really kill him to have some manners? What was even his reason for hating me so much? I had done nothing to him to make him so angry with me except for the argument we had when he knocked me out the first time we met and I think that's understandable giving the circumstances.

"Calm down, Lyra" Amy chuckled, her eyes shifting to something behind me. When I turned, I saw Daryl towering over me in a way that looked as though he was trying to be threatening. It would work against me, though. No, I had known Daryl long enough to know that he could never physically hurt me even if he wanted to. It just wouldn't happen. Merle had raised him well enough to never hurt a woman.

"What do you want?" I barked, facing away from him once more. It probably seemed cowardly, but it was for his own good. If I looked at him any longer, I was in danger of hitting the ungrateful sod.

"Is that really what you think?" He murmured in a way that was threatening even though he never once raised his voice. "Do you really think that I don't care? Don't you dare tell me that I don't care! I go out hunting damn near every day to feed you ungrateful bitches! I defend this camp and it's all for you! Because of me you now know how to shoot. Don't you tell me that I don't care!"

By the time he had finished his rant, his chest was heaving deeply and I was shifting awkwardly on the rock that I was sitting on. I couldn't remember Daryl ever shouting at me like that. The feeling was weird. I wasn't used to having his angry face so close to mine as he shouts insults at me with people gawping all around us.

Well, at least one good thing came of this. He's probably going to stop being a dick to Carol now that he's got someone new to aim all of anger at. That simple fact was all I needed to summon up the willpower to stand tall against him.

With an attitude that I didn't even know I possessed, I clutched at the collar of his shirt and pulled him up against me. At least I knew that this would shake him up a bit. I was going to be the one to have the advantage here.

"Of course you care about our lives" I hissed. "You couldn't just stand there and watch us die, but that doesn't mean that you care about our feelings. Every single fucking day you trample on us in a way that makes us all feel shit about ourselves. How do you think Carol feels? She keeps pretending as though she's okay, but it's all just an act. She's hurting over what you said to her and quite frankly you don't give a shit at all and you know it." Just as quickly as I had grabbed his collar, I let go and pushed him away from me.

For a moment, he looked shocked at the ferocity that I had projected onto him, but he quickly recovered himself and fixed me with a stony glare once again.

"You don't know shit, Lyra" He grumbled and I could tell that things hadn't changed at all. He was still going to act exactly the same. As soon as it looks like I'm finally making any sort of progress with him, he retreats straight back into his shell and won't come out again until it's time for the next argument. It's infuriating, but we've all got to live with it.

The saddest part of it is that I know that he could be a real sweetie if he only tried to work things out with everyone at the camp. If he'd just stop pretending that he was a complete dick, things could work.

"Why do you hate me?" I asked, the question shocking me and everyone else around me. I guess no one really expected me to be so blunt about the matter. It was something that had bothered me for as long as I could remember and I wanted an answer. Now.

"Do you remember anything about high school?" He asked, his jaw clenching in a way that showed me that he had more to say about high school, but he was biting his tongue.

"Yeah, I remember high school" I answered, giving a shrug as though the matter wasn't important. "What's it to you?"

"Well, do you remember that kid that you used to laugh at all the time at the cheerleader table because he was a scruff and he was practically being raised by his big brother?" He questioned, breaking eye contact and staring out at the water ahead of us.

Oh God. Of course it was that. I had no idea that Daryl was that boy that I used to torture back in high school. No wonder he hated me. Hell, I'd be out to kill the fucker if I was in Daryl's position.

"Oh, Daryl" I sighed as my brows furrowed. How could I have not recognised him? After all, I spent most of my high school experience criticising every last thing about him. "I'm so sorry. Please, let me change it."

"No, it's fine" He muttered as he gave a shake of his hand as though there really wasn't anything of much importance regarding what he had just revealed. I could never forgive myself for doing this. What if it was all because of me? What if Daryl was only the way he was with everyone because of what I did to him back when we were teenagers? Oh God, had I single-handedly destroyed what could have been a sweet, perfect man? "I don't care about high school."

"Daryl, please don't do this" I whispered, taking a step towards him for him to just take one back. "Please let me make it up to you."

"Oh yeah, and how do you plan on doing that?" He questioned as his eyes flashed with only more anger that he was trying his best to contain. I didn't have an answer to that question. Is it even possible that I could even begin to make it up to him after the hell that I put him through?

If it was me, there would be no way for anyone to make things okay between us.

"I'll do anything, Daryl" I promised, yet again taking a step towards him as I forgot about everyone around us who were now edging away from us subtly. Yet again he took another step away from me. Christ, were we going to do this until we got all the way back to camp?

"Lyra, there's nothing you can do for me to forget about what you did" Daryl answered abruptly, taking two more steps further away. "Nothing at all."

"Please" I said weakly as he turned on his heels and walked briskly away. As soon as he was out of sight, Carol wrapped a delicate arm around my shoulders in an effort to offer me comfort and support. I guess I know how she felt now. "Carol, what am I going to do?"

She looked as though she was at a loss for words. She had never been in this position with Daryl. Hell, no one had been in this position with Daryl. Who knew how you were supposed to act when one of the Dixon brothers got mad at you? I sure as hell didn't.

"I think there's only one thing you can do" Carol sighed, resting her head against my shoulder as she gave a comforting pat on my shoulder. "You just need to give him some time to cool off. Leave a note in his tent for him and go there when it gets dark. Talk it out with him and don't leave until you're on good terms with him."

The idea of being alone with Daryl in the dead of night was not something that intrigued me one bit, but if Carol really believed that it was the only way we were going to be able to start speaking again then I was willing to give it a go.

"I hope you know how horrible this is going to be for me" I grinned half-heartedly.

"I know, honey" She sighed.

_Daryl_

Why the hell did I actually tell her that? I shouldn't have let her think that I was weak. High school was high school. That was it. It's not like it could possibly affect me now. Only if I let it. Damn, we were slap bang in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, but the biggest issue on our hands is high school. Yeah, because that obviously makes so much sense.

God, I never wanted to see that goddamn bitch again for as long as I live. Everyone saw. The argument I had with Lyra is definitely going to be the gossip going around the camp tomorrow. As I lay in my sleeping bag with my head buried deeply within the covers, I heard the zipper of my tent opening and then something drop on top of me before it closed again.

It was a note:

_Daryl, I'm sorry. I know you won't want to talk to me now, so I'm giving you some time to cool off. I'll come by at night, so we can talk about this properly._

_Love, Lyra_

She had written it on the back of an old photo. It wasn't just any photo. No, this was a class photo from high school. And there I was sitting right next to Lyra.

Good Lord, kill me now.

**Well, I hope you enjoy! I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter! I'll also try and get the update up quicker. Please keep the feedback coming.**


	6. Chapter 6

Time After Time

_**Hey, thanks to anyone who reviewed on the previous chapter! It really meant a lot. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and please keep the reviews coming!**_

_**Lyrics: Welcome to the nightmare in my head. Say hello to say something scary.**_

_Chapter Six_

_Lyra_

By the time night finally fell on the camp, I was already petrified about going to see Daryl. Throughout the whole day I had been playing all of the different scenarios through my head. Not one of them seemed particularly appealing and they certainly didn't seem like they were going to win Daryl's trust.

"Would you stop freaking out!?" Cole grumbled exasperatedly. He'd been sitting in my tent with me for over three hours trying to help me figure out what I could possibly say to Daryl to make this all okay. So far, we'd come up with nothing. Oh, don't get me wrong. I tried. I fucking tried as though my life depended on it. Nothing good came to my mind, though. Anything that I did say was probably going to result in a slap to the face.

"I can't stop freaking out" I complained, burying my head in my hands for the millionth time. How does Daryl Dixon manage to get me this angsty when I'm living in a world full of walkers? It should be physically impossible. No, I'm not worried about the beings that want to tear me limb from limb…no it's the redneck with attitude that I'm worried about. Of course that makes so much logical sense. "Cole, you have no idea how horrible I was to him back in high school." He simply raised his eyebrows at me in response, something he does when he thinks he has one over on me. "What now?"

"Oh, I think I know how horrible you were to him in high school" Cole laughed with a disbelieving shake of the head, his overgrown hair hanging over his face as he did so.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, failing to keep the offense out of my voice. Was I that much of a bitch that even my little brother could tell that what I was doing was wrong?

"Look, please don't take this the wrong way" Cole began and I knew straight away that he was going to say something that was probably going to be incredibly enlightening. "You were a bitch in high school. You were the queen bee for your time there and you really took that seriously. If I was Daryl, I'd still be pissed at you."

"Jesus, Cole! It's a bit hard not to take that the wrong way" I sighed in shock. Wow, it really comes to something when your own brother thinks that of you. "Was I really that bad to Daryl?"

"Yeah, you were" Cole answered. I guess that kid really doesn't hold anything back. "Why are you letting it bother you anyway? I never thought you'd really care about what Daryl thought of you."

"I don't care about what Daryl thinks of me" I said defensively with a scowl. Oh God, I was acting how I used to when I was a teenager. The defensive prat who sulks any time something doesn't go her way. This was so not happening to me. "I just want a fresh start. We've got enough to worry about it with the walkers. I don't want to add Daryl to the list of people who want to kill me."

"You like Daryl, don't you?" Cole asked with a cheeky grin, reminding me ever so much of how he used to be before this catastrophe happened.

"What do you mean?" I asked as confusion swept over my face.

"You _like_ like Daryl" Cole accused and my eyebrows shot to the sky. Oh God, he could not think something like that of me. How could I possibly like Daryl? That just wouldn't happen!

"Oh, so now we're dealing with elementary definitions of like?" I scoffed, attempting to take some of the heat from myself, but it didn't seem to faze Cole at all. The cheeky smirk stayed implanted on his face as he wrapped himself deeper into the blankets; the nights were getting colder.

"Don't you dare try and change the subject" Cole warned, crossing his arms over the tops of the fur. "Do you like Daryl or don't you?"

"Of course I like Daryl" I sighed. "But certainly not in the way that you think. Daryl's a good guy…I think he's just misunderstood. He'd also be the first one able to save our lives if something bad was to happen, so we need to stay on the good side of him, okay?"

"Whatever" Cole grumbled, losing interest now that there wasn't a potential love interest on the horizon. "Just be safe…if you catch my drift" He said with a wink. Annoyed, I made to punch him, but the fur blanket acted as a rather effective cushioning system.

"Cole, I don't ever want to hear you mention sex again" I snapped, beginning to feel exactly like my Mom. "And certainly not if that sex is involving Daryl Dixon."

"Lyra, just go see Daryl" Cole sighed as he raised his eyebrows in amusement once more. Reluctantly, I left the tent with a scowl. As soon as I stepped out into the cool, night air, my hands began to sweat despite the chill. His tent seemed to stand ominously at the outskirts of the camp. I approached it carefully, treating Daryl as some sort of snake that could strike at any moment if I got too close to him.

"Daryl, you there?" I whispered slowly as I attempted a knock on the synthetic material. "I just want to talk to you. Okay, I'm going to come in." Hesitantly, I zipped the tent open a fraction and poked my head inside to see that the tent was completely empty apart from a sleeping back, some food and the photo that I gave to him. Oh god, what if he read my note and ran away for the night to avoid talking to him? Come on, it's Daryl. Could you really expect any less?

"The fuck you doin'?" A gruff voice asked from behind me, scaring the wits from me. I jumped around to face whoever it was to find the one and only Daryl Dixon staring down at me with a look of pure hatred. If he had found me like this before our argument, he would have been slightly amused by my shock.

"Daryl, you scared the shit outta me!" I gasped, holding my heart in a feeble attempt to stop it from racing in fright. "Please never do that again" Instead of saying anything, he pushed me aside and clambered through the doorway of the tent. He took a seat on the top of the sleeping bag and looked up at me expectantly.

"Sit down" He ordered with probably much regret. "You're making the place look untidy" Hesitantly, I stepped into the tent and sat down opposite him. This was too awkward for words. I never expected to be sitting in a tent so close to Daryl Dixon. If I even approached his tent, he used to glare at me with a look that told me exactly that he wanted me to stay in my own place.

"It's a real nice place you got here" I said awkwardly as I looked around at the few things he had here. At that moment, I was willing to bet my life that I saw Daryl smile. That one flicker of his lips gave me a whole new level of hope that perhaps I would be able to solve this messy situation.

"You don't have to make small talk, Lyra" Daryl grumbled, retreating straight back into his shell once more. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want, Daryl" I sighed sadly. Could he really just pretend as though nothing had happened and go on as normal? Well, even if he could, there was no way that I would be able too. For the rest of my life, I'm going to regret every single thing I ever said to make him feel like shit.

"Don't have a clue what you want, girl" He said evasively, looking for anything in the tent to mess around with to keep the heat off of himself.

"I want to talk about what I did to you in high school" I answered. At the mention of high school, Daryl turned angry again and fixed me with a stony glare. Maybe he wouldn't be able to just pretend as though nothing happened. Maybe he was going to hate me for the rest of our miserable lives. Hell, stranger things have happened…like a zombie apocalypse for example.

"What have we got to talk about?" He mumbled as he broke eye contact with me. "I think it's all quite simple when you really think about it. All high schools have the bitch that everyone hates, but they all admire her anyway. You were ours."

"Daryl, you can't possibly think something like that about me" I said defensively, attempting to keep the hurt out of my voice and eyes. Out of all of the ways I saw this conversation going, I didn't see it quite like this. How could he think something like that of me? I had really thought that we had been making progress as friends.

"Why can't I?" He asked. "You were a bitch. You can't deny that. Everyone else may have admired you, but I didn't. No, I wouldn't admire someone like you."

"Please don't be like this, Daryl" I whispered before my own anger ranked up. No, why the hell was I taking this kind of verbal abuse from him? "Everyone makes mistakes in high school. I made one that I regret deeply now, but you can't still be that annoyed about it. You know that I'm not like that anymore! Christ you can't stay mentally stuck in high school for the rest of your life, Dixon."

"You think I'm mentally stuck in high school?" Daryl scoffed with another hard glare. "Oh, you're still mentally stuck in high school. You're the one causing the exact same arguments that we had…"

I couldn't help it. Maybe it was just the emotions of the day or the fact that Cole had believed that I liked Daryl…or maybe it was just hearing Daryl talk about our past. I crashed my lips on his and pushed him down to the point that I was straddling him. For a moment, it was like he didn't know what to do or how to react. He simply lay there as my hands ran over his broad shoulders and my tongue begged for entrance to his mouth. Finally, his hands slipped over my back and held me close to him, giving me the admission to his mouth that I had been practically begging for. It was heavenly. Sheer heaven was all that it could possibly be.

My hands slipped up his shirt and travelled up to his bare chest that was warmer than anything I could ever imagine. His hands ran up and down my arms, his calloused fingers scratching the skin, but only managing to make me feel even better about being in his arms.

As quickly as I had attacked his mouth with my own, I was off him and breathing deeply. He perched himself on his elbows and looked at me intently as though he couldn't tell if he wanted to shout at me or continue on with our kissing.

"I don't think the same as I did in high school" I sighed. "Daryl, you're nothing like I said you were. I couldn't think something like that of you." Carefully, I leaned over and pressed another kiss to his lips. This one was a lot softer than the other and left me wanting to simply lie with him. He didn't respond to it. He just sat there and let my hands run over his shoulders in comfort. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Daryl."

"Goodnight, Lyra" He mumbled, finally responding to my kiss and giving me a final peck. Not once in my life did I think that Daryl Dixon would present me with affection.

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please keep the reviews coming. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

Time After Time

_**Thanks to everyone who read the previous chapter and reviewed. It means a lot. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! This is the last chapter of the story. Sorry, it's been so short!**_

_**Lyrics: It's like I can't even feel after the way you touched me. I'm not asleep, but I'm not awake after the way you loved me.**_

_Chapter Seven_

_Lyra_

I had barely been asleep when the flap to the tent was torn open and a hunched figure clambered in. For a moment, I believed it was a stray walker that had found its way to the camp, so I grabbed the gun I kept by my side at all times and aimed. A stealthy had darted out and forced me to lower the gun. Definitely not a walker with deft hands like these.

"Chill out, girl" A gruff voice said before shuffling to my side and taking the gun from me. Oh, it was Daryl. He's now decided to seek me out in the early hours of the morning. This was sure to be an eventful night if my instincts and common sense were anything to go on. The outcome of the night remained a mystery to me. "I just want to talk to you."

"Sorry, Daryl" I mumbled, pulling the covers up to my chin as a breeze washed through the camp. "You don't mind if I lay down do you? I'm beat." For a second, he looked at me as though I was insane before giving a brief nod that I could only barely make out.

"Sure, it's fine by me" He answered before I lowered myself down and curled up in a ball by his side. He didn't look as though he knew what to do with himself. He kept making moves to out his hands somewhere before deciding it was inappropriate and then coming up with a new idea before deciding not to once more. Finally, he decided with leaving them in his lap.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked after the silence had gone on longer than I thought possible. Hmm, maybe he had never been in a position like this before. He was probably just at a loss on what to do.

"About what you said when you came to see me before" Daryl answered, looking as though the mere thought of what was said pained him. Oh, was he really that against any show of emotion? "About what you did."

"There were two lips smacking" I reminded with a lazy grin at the thought of it. When I had originally kissed him it had been to prove a point. I hadn't expected him to be so good with his lips. The second kiss was purely because I was one selfish girl with no will-power whatsoever.

"I'm not denying that" He retorted, the ghost of a laugh dripping from his words. Maybe that was classed as progress on his part. "There's no way I can deny that, girl. I'm a man, what was I supposed to do?"

"So, didn't you enjoy it?" I questioned, barely able to contain myself around him. This was too funny. It was unbelievable that he could feel so awkward about all of this. It was a kiss. Anyone else would just brush it off…or pounce on me again. With Daryl I was kind of hoping it would be the latter.

"You've got to make things so awkward, ain't ya?" He sighed with a roll of his eyes before lying down with me, resting his head on his arm. "Of course I enjoyed it, stupid. You're a good kisser. I ain't denying that."

"So, why do you need to talk about it?" I asked, genuine confusion filling me and a concern for him that I didn't expect. This was soon replaced by the humour of a comeback I had thought of. "Oh, I get it now. Dixon, wants another one. Well, I'd be more than happy to oblige, hun"

At my words, a laugh escaped me so loud that I was surprised it didn't attract every walker within a ten mile radius. Daryl launched up and crossed his arms over his chest in anger as all of the progress he could have possible made melted away as though it had never been there to begin with. Perhaps it hadn't ever been there…perhaps I was just making it all up to make myself feel better about everything that was going on. Perhaps there had been no kiss after all.

"Well, ain't you just hilarious" Daryl grumbled, moving to open the tent once more before my lightning fast reflexes caused me to grab his wrist and jerk it away before I had even realised what I was doing. "What are you doing?"

"No, don't go" I sighed, probably sounding more than just a little desperate. Well, I wasn't particularly good at these kinds of moments. I guess I was more like Daryl than I thought. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. I promise that if you stay, I won't be a bitch ever again."

"I really doubt that" Daryl joked, giving me one of his rare smiles that managed to infect me and make me smile along with him. He relaxed only slightly, but still lay back down by my side.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked. "I want to know what's on your mind."

"There's always something on my fucking mind" Daryl hissed. For the first time, I thought of the possibility that this whole situation with the walkers could be getting to Daryl. His brother was gone and he didn't know when he was coming back or even if he would be coming back. Even when all of this was going on, Daryl seemed so calm about it all. It was as though none of this could possibly bother him no matter how much shit he was dragged through. I believed then that that could be the reason why we were all able to carry on with things. We follow after Daryl. Seeing him so annoyed and stressed about it all was a wake-up call to me. Even he wasn't invincible.

Instinctively, I reached out and wrapped an arm around his waist in an effort to comfort him and to also gain some support from him. He tensed up immediately, but didn't move away which I took as a sign that it was okay to touch him.

We lay like that for a while. We didn't need to say anything. Just being next to each other was enough. Knowing that somebody was there for you was enough to make me feel okay at least for a little while.

"So, what do you have on your mind about us?" I asked finally. He still hadn't responded to my touch, but just knowing that he was allowing this was enough for me. Perhaps in time he would learn to welcome my touch. It was a long shot, but I liked to believe that it was possible.

"Why did you kiss me?" He asked suddenly. Wow, he really doesn't waste any time, does he? The question caught me off guard. The answer was so simple…surely there had to be more to it. It had to be more complicated. Things in this world were no longer simple. It was like it was against the law or something. Oh wait, there's no such thing as a law anymore.

"Because I wanted to" I answered dumbly. Surely this response couldn't be enough for him. It barely explained anything. This response couldn't make him feel better. "The first kiss was just to prove to you that I didn't care about what you were like in high school. It was to prove that high school was behind us and that I actually care about you. The second kiss was purely because I wanted to. The second kiss was because the first one left me hungry for more. Feeling you kiss me before I left was amazing…even though it was only a peck."

"That's all I needed" Daryl grinned before he wrapped his arm around me. Wow, the first affectionate touch from Daryl that I didn't need to practically push and bully him into. I was surprised that the world hadn't exploded or something equally destructive.

"So, what now?" I asked. It seemed as though the hard part was over, yet I couldn't help but think that it was going to get more difficult. I had never been in a proper relationship before and I had a feeling that Daryl hadn't either. Both of us were clueless as to how to act in one.

"C'mere" Daryl muttered. Well, he was a man of few words. He tilted my chin up, so I was facing him and pressed his lips to me in a sweet kiss. It was much more gentle than any of our previous ones and it was something that I never thought Daryl would be capable of. He always seemed so primal. Surely sweetness was not something in his list of abilities…but he managed to prove me wrong that night. Oh, he proved me wrong.

_**So it was a little shorter than any of my other chapters. I apologise. Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story. It's been an absolute pleasure to write it for you all. Thanks so much for reading!**_


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